An outstanding season of high school soccer came to a close for the Eastern Lady Warriors on Oct. 27 at Waverly’s Tiger Stadium.
After finishing runner-up in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference and going on to claim a Southeast District Division III Sectional Title, the Lady Warriors (as the district tourney No. 2 seed) went on to face No. 1 seed Alexander in the SE District Division III championship game Oct. 27.
With the Lady Warriors leading 3-2 with four minutes remaining, it looked as if this year’s Eastern High School girls soccer team would bring home the program’s first district title in school history, but it was Alexander scoring two goals in the final minutes to become district champs.
It was a district championship game filled with momentum shifts, a game in which the Lady Warriors lived up to their “no quit” reputation that they developed throughout their 2018 fall soccer campaign.
Alexander scored two goals less than 21 minutes to contest to leave the Lady Warriors trailing 2-0.
But the determined Lady Warriors didn’t hang their heads and give up. They have been down before in games this season but battled their way back for a victory, and they knew they were equipped with the talent and determination it would take to defeat the No. 1 seed team of Alexander.
The Lady Warriors had gotten some good shots early on, but failed to reach the back of the net against a sturdy Alexander defense. Persistence on offense finally paid off for the Lady Warriors, and with 7:51 to go in the first half it was Eastern’s senior captain Morgan Reynolds sending a shot over the head of the Alexander goalie and into the net to cut the lead to 2-1.
Eastern’s junior goalkeeper Emily Fannin hit the turf for a diving save in the final seconds of the first half, and heading into halftime break it was Alexander leading by one goal.
The Lady Warriors came out firing in the second half, and with 31:43 to go it was freshman Bailey Dotson sending a shot over the head of the Alexander goalie to tie the game at two.
Less than a minute later, it was Fannin coming through with another diving save, and frustrations were clearly mounting for the Alexander squad.
With the clock closing in on the 24-minute mark, Eastern senior Reagan Leonard launched a corner kick that ricocheted off the leg of an Alexander defender and into the goal, putting the Lady Warriors on top 3-2.
Aggressive play continued on both ends of the field, with Fannin grabbing save after save and other members of the Eastern defense clearing attack after attack as the Lady Warriors clung tight to their one-goal advantage.
With 14:50 to play, it was Eastern freshman Emma Prine clearing an Alexander attack, and a few minutes later it was Eastern’s junior defender Juanita Frost stifling a Lady Spartan attack.
With just over 10 minutes to go, Eastern’s senior captain Jaime Hoover cleared an Alexander shot that would have otherwise resulted in the tying goal.
With 3:53 left on the clock, it was Alexander firing for their third goal of the night to tie the game at three apiece.
Less than a minute later, the Lady Spartans scored another goal to take a 4-3 lead.
The Lady Warriors fought hard in the final minutes, but their tying goal never came.
The Lady Warriors finished their 2018 soccer campaign as a Southeast District Division III Runner-up, sectional champs, and second in SHAC final standings.
Leonard, Reynolds, and Hoover have all been named to the SHAC’s list of girls soccer all-stars.
It’s an end to a season in which the Lady Warriors made huge strides under the leadership of their first-year head coach Dan Silvis. Silvis may have been new to the Eastern High School girls soccer program this year, but has many years of soccer coaching under his belt from the youth to the high school varsity level.
The end of the fall soccer season also marked the end of the high school soccer careers for six Eastern seniors – Beka Grayless, Meghan Holden, Abby Swanson, Hoover, Leonard, and Reynolds.
“The seniors showed great leadership this year and set a great example for other kids,” said Silvis. “We’re going to miss them.”
Silvis reflected on the progress his Lady Warriors have made since the preseason and struggled to find the words to describe how pleased he is of the hard work they put in to find such success on the soccer field.
“We’ve come a long, long way,” said Silvis. “We started the season out playing in the Mason Tournament, and I’m not sure we scored a single goal in that tournament. We played five games and we lost five games. We played four preseason games and we lost three of those. We didn’t look too good in the preseason, but I saw that we had some talent. These girls have a great work ethic, and it’s hard to put into words how proud I am of them.”
The Eastern Lady Warriors’ three team captains were also proud of how far the team has come since the preseason.
“When we started (the preseason) we had a completely new coach and we were a little worried,” said team captain Caitlyn Wills. “After the third or fourth game we started clicking, and I think the way we played Wednesday night (in the district semifinal win over Fairland) and the way we fought tonight (in the district finals) really showed our best talent. We have progressed so much.”
“I think we’re a second half team. We got down but we didn’t let our heads drop and played our hearts out,” Reynolds said of the district championship game.
While Reynolds was heartbroken to see her team not come away with a district title, she’s still proud of their effort.
“I’m proud of our whole team and how hard we all played,” said Reynolds.
Hoover reflected on how much the team progressed this season and how she will miss her coaches and teammates as she ends her successful high school soccer career.
“It’s always hard playing with a new group of freshmen and you’re all trying to figure out how each other play and how to work together. But I think once we figured out how to play like a family, and with the help of our new coach, we definitely had the best season I’ve ever had in my high school career. I’m really thankful for that.”
The Lady Warriors finished their 2018 fall soccer campaign with an overall record of 14-4-1.